BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Eintracht Frankfurt moved on second place of the standings after beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 at the opener of the 20th round in Bundesliga on Friday.
The "Eagles" have reaped the ninth victory of the season after the goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng and Luka Jovic were enough to overcome top four rivals Monchengladbach.
The hosts ensured a bright start in front of home crowd as Ante Rebic teed up for Marius Wolf, who pulled wide from close range with just six minutes into the game.
After the first chance of the game, the spectators at Commerzbank Arena had to be patient as both sides staged a well-positioned defence. As a result, clear-cut goal scoring opportunities remained a rare occurrence.
Things chanced in the closing period of the first half as Timothy Chandler's square pass into the box found Boateng, who slotted home the opener for Frankfurt in the 43rd minute.
After the restart, Monchengladbach dominated the clash and pressed frenetically for the equalizer. However, the "Foals" lacked in accuracy as Patrick Herrmann rattled the bar in the 57th minute before Thorgan Hazard squandered a foul penalty after hitting the corner of the goalpost in the 78th minute.
Frankfurt sealed the deal in the closing period after successfully completing a counter attack through substitute Luka Jovic, who hammered home from the edge of the box in the dying minutes of the game.
With the result, Frankfurt jumped onto the second place of the table for now whereas Monchengladbach slipped to the sixth.
"I am happy that we won the game. We had to work hard. We did well in the first half but our performance decreased in the second half," Frankfurt's coach Niko Kovac said.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: front-runners Bayern Munich host Hoffenheim, Borussia Dortmund face Freiburg, Leipzig see struggling Hamburg, last-placed Cologne encounter Augsburg, newly-promoted Stuttgart take on Schalke and bottom side Werder Bremen clash with Hertha Berlin.
